1. Abortion as a Contemporary Moral Issue & Judith Jarvis Thomson’s A Defense of Abortion
Phil 240, Introduction to Ethical Theory, W9L1
Benjamin Visscher Hole IV

2. Today’s Overview Admin Clicker Quiz
Review main takeaways about ethical theory from last week and transition to applied ethics
Thomson

3. Clicker Quiz

4. According to Thomson, most opposition to abortion relies on:
religious arguments.
the premise that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception.
the premise that killing is always wrong.
an appeal to emotion.
all of the above.
none of the above.

5. she believes it is true, and uses it as an assumption.
What attitude does Thomson take toward the claim that a fetus is a person (with the right to life) from the moment of conception?
she believes it is true, and uses it as an assumption.
she believes it is true, but asks what would follow if it were false.
she believes it is false, and ignores it.
she believes it is false, but asks what would follow if it were true.
none of the above.

6. The case of the violinist is meant to show that:
abortion is always morally permissible.
not everyone has a right to life.
the right to life does not entail the right not to be killed.
everyone has a right to the bare minimum needed to keep them alive.
none of the above.

7. Administrative issues
Week 9 overview
Grading Questions

8. Week Overview Monday, Thomson and Broader Issues
Tuesday, Thomson and Hursthouse
Wednesday, Hursthouse and Broader Issues
Thursday, Course Evaluations and Final Review
Friday, Final Examination

9. Grading Questions
Grading Allocation
Grading Conversion
Grade Category
Percentage Range
Grade Point Range
Good to Very Good
A range
90+
3.6+
Satisfactory to Good
B range
80+
3.2+
Satisfactory
C range
70+
2.8+
Unsatisfactory
D range
60+
2.4+
Failure
F range
59 and below
2.3 and below
Participation 5% Daily Quizzes 20% Assignments 25% Final Paper 35% Final Exam 15%

10. Dates Required Readings Recommended Readings Week One: June 24-28
Why be moral? Moral Theory Primer
Syllabus
Plato, 65-78
Timmons (electronic)
Shafer-Landau, 1-17
Shafer-Landau,
Concepción (electronic)
Week Two: July 1-5
Social Contract Theory and Collective Action Problems
Hobbes,
Hardin (electronic)
Vaughn, “How to Read an Argument” (electronic)
Shafer-Landau,
Week Three: July 8-12
Utilitarianism
Nozick (electronic)
Bentham,
Shafer-Landau,
Shafer-Landau, 21-58
Week Four: July 15-19
Singer,
Mill,
Shafer-Landau,
Week Five: July 22-26
Kantian Ethics
Kant,
O’Neil (electronic)
Velleman (electronic)
Shafer-Landau,
Week Six: July 29 - August 2
Assessing Utilitarianism & Kantian Ethics
Anscombe,
Williams,
Wolf,
Stocker (electronic)
Baker (electronic)
Week Seven: August 5-8
Virtue Ethics
Aristotle, ;
Shafer-Landau,
Aristotle,
Week Eight: August 12-16
Virtue Ethics & Assessing Ethical Theory
Nussbaum,
Note: Final Paper due August 12
Week Nine: August 19-23
Contemporary Moral Issues: Abortion
Thomson,
Hursthouse,
Review for the final
Note: Final Exam August 23

11. PHIL102b: Contemporary Moral Problems AUT2013, M-F, 1:30-2:20pm, SAV 130
This is a course in applied ethics. We connect various contemporary issues with ethical theory, in order to better understand the nature of these disputes. While there are many such issues, we concentrate on topics concerning sexual ethics, biomedical ethics, international ethics, and social/political ethics.

12. Ethical Theory and Contemporary Moral Problems
Review last week and transition to applied ethics

13. Main concerns for assessing ethical theory
How to respond to the immoralist challenge?
Broader appeal to interests or reciprocity
Indirection or egoism?
Problems for Modern Moral Philosophy
Integrity
Psychologically impoverished, etc. (Anscombe)
Practical Guidance and Explanatory Power
Moral Dilemmas
Universality and Context-Sensitivity
Watson’s Dilemma
Moral Indeterminancy
Circularity
Demandingness Problems

14. In light of these concerns, which ethical theory is the best?
Social contractarianism (Glaucon and Hobbes)
Kantian deontology
Bentham’s hedonistic utilitarianism
Mill’s hedonistic utilitarianism
Aristotle’s virtue ethical theory
Nussbaum’s virtue ethical theory

15. Timmons
Theory
Practice
“The theoretical aim of moral theory is to discover those underlying features of actions, persons, and other items of moral evaluation that make them right or wrong, good or bad and thus explain why such items have the moral properties they have. Features of this sort serve as moral criteria of the right and the good” (3-4).
“The practical aim of a moral theory is to offer practical guidance for how we might arrive at correct or justified moral verdicts about matters of moral concern – verdicts which we can then use to help guide choice” (4).

16. Abortion Overview Context of the contemporary moral issue
Thomson’s argument

17. Pope John Paul II “The Unspeakable Crime of Abortion”
A fetus is a person with the right to life.
It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a fetus. (Abortion is immoral.)

18. A fetus is a person with the right to life.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Somewhat Agree
Neutral
Somewhat Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

19. Mary Anne Warren “On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion”
A fetus is a person with the right to life.
Moral Standing?
consciousness,
rationality,
self-motivated activity,
capacity to communicate,
and self-awareness.

20. Moral Standing A fetus is a person with the right to life.
Although she disagrees, Thomson concedes this premise for the sake of argument.

21. The Right to Life A fetus is a person with the right to life.
It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life.
Therefore, it is morally wrong to kill a fetus. (Abortion is immoral.)
Rather, Thomson takes issue with the second premise.

22. It is morally wrong to kill a person with the right to life.
Strongly Agree
Agree
Somewhat Agree
Neutral
Somewhat Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

23. The Right to Life
Either a fetus is a person with the right to life or not.
If a fetus is a person, then abortion is not impermissible.
If a fetus is not a person, then abortion is not impermissible.
Either way, abortion is not impermissible.
Thomson’s Main Argument